With summer vacation approaching an end, the box office of Japan's animated movie Doraemon has topped 5 million yuan (US$650,000) in its first week, and America's Transformers has brought in over 260 million yuan (US$34 million) since its mid-summer release; however, Chinese animated movies are not faring as well.
The Shanghai Animation Film Studio invested 10 million yuan in its film Warrior, but has so far only seen 5 million yuan in box office sales. Though the China-US jointly produced Secret of the Magic Gourd earned 20 million yuan at the box office, the result does not inspire pride when compared with the revenue of foreign movies.
A manager from one animation company, Guo Jie, said that the lack of famous directors, scriptwriters, and marketing staff is the main reason behind China's slow progress in animated movies.
He says China has enough animation producers, having been the processing workshop for many Hollywood blockbuster movies including Tarzan, Toy Story, and Finding Nemo. But producing is just one part of finishing a movie, and a successful movie also needs a good story and marketing promotion.
A good and creative story is a base, while marketing will allow more audiences to know of the products. He criticized the low-profile promotion of Warrior, because, "When it premiered in cinemas, audiences knew almost nothing about it."
Chairman of the China Animation Association's Beijing Branch, Li Zhongqiu, stressed the importance of famous directors. "China needs famous directors, like Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige, to upgrade the profile of the animation industry. Good directors and script writers will help change the present situation."
Duan Jia, Professor from the Animation institute of the Beijing Film Academy, called attention to the art of animation, saying that it is often undervalued in China. In America, however, many animated movies are more profitable than live-action features. Many famous Hollywood directors have even branched out to direct animated movies as well.
(CRI.cn August 15, 2007)
